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Hmm I frankly never thought I will be writing this thread the reason to which you will get within the thread. Okay then let's start

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls_pbg0gcn4



Well I had to think a lot on how to write an ownership review for the third time for the same car. After the accident in which I lost my beige dzire zdi http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...-accident.html it took time to even start thinking about a car.

Most of the focus was on dad's treatment and dealing with the insurance company who were adding salt on our fresh wounds. Well after my dad was back home we slowly started discussing the topic of whether we need a second car as dad was very scared and was shivering when he was brought home in our neighbour's car from the hospital. Dad said we will need a second car as even if he wouldn't drive he would appoint a driver since he needs a car for his business purpose. So he told me to start my car hunt but he was very specific on his priorities this time which were in the following order:

1. Must have airbags
2. Must have abs
3. Should be overall a safe car
4. Should be diesel
5. Should be within 9 lakhs OTR +/- 20k
6. Should have resale value
7. Should be hassle free to service


So keeping these priorities in mind I decided to start my car hunt.

CARS SHORTLISTED AND THE OFFER
1. Punto 1.3 MJD 90hp: 1.2 lakhs off
2. VW 1.6 GT TDI: 25000/- off
3. Sx4: 2.5 lakhs off
4. Dzire: mentioned below

EURO NCAP SAFETY RATINGS:
1. Punto: 5 star
2. Vw polo: 5 star
3. Sx4: 4 star
4. Dzire: 5 star ( considering swift's rating)

THE HUNT

1. Fiat Punto: Truthfully I had driven the car before but due to pressure from friends and it's 5 star euro ncap rating decided to check it out again and as suggested by them drove one which was driven for more than 10k kms. This time I test drove the car twice and still left unimpressed, the car I drove was a 90hp. The main problem was the turbo lag, the kick was felt at 2500 rpm before which the car felt lifeless and the weight of it made matters worse. The punto weighs more than the sunny which in itself speaks a lot. The car needs a 1.6 multijet which will do justice to it. Plus, I was not sure of the service and the resale value is very low so the punto was out.

2. GT TDI: well this was a new contender that was launched just a few days after I purchased my previous dzire. It would be a hot hatch but the over confidence of the dealers let it down. They told that test drive vehicle is not available currently and people are booking without test drive. They suggested me to drive the vento and decide to which I bluntly refused saying that if I am spending sedan kind of money on a hatch I ought to get a proper test drive. They never were able to arrange for a proper TD, if this is the way they are acting before buying what would be the state of after sales service? Out goes the polo.

3. SX4: Theorytically the sx4 would be out of my budget but due to its low sales and huge discounts it was costing as much as the dzire so test drove the sx4. I nowhere felt that 90ps made it underpowered. It had adequate amount of power and would reach triple digit speeds with ease. The new car has much better features than the older car but the old design of the dash was letting it down making it look cheaper than dzire. The YL1 was also due which would make resale value next to nil. Even after the discounts I would loose a lot of money when I go on to sell it. So out goes the sx4.

4. Dzire: Well this one doesn't need an introduction as i had owned 2 earlier. But the dilemma faced here was whether to wait for the facelift or go for the current one. Started calling up dealers for the best deals possible on the current gen. A dealer gave me a real good offer consisting of the following:

1. 30k cash discount
2. Free seat covers
3. Free matting
4. Free parking sensors
5. Free bumper corner protector
6. Free body side moulding
7. Free A/c filter
8. Free steering cover
9. Free Led door sill guard
10. Free peddle lamps
11. 50% off on wooden kit (didn't take it though)


The total benefits worked out to be 50k which is a lot on a dzire. Started working out if it is feasible to wait for the facelfit. My kizashi costed me 25k per month to run so expecting a march'14 launch I would loose nearly a lakh in fuel and further loose the discounts and face a price rise which would total to be a loss of 1.75 lakhs. There is no way the resale value of new dzire could make up for that, so went ahead and booked my silky silver dzire zdi. Just to run into an issue the dealer had run out of silvers and was offering me a white since he had 5 white zdi's in stock. Didn't take much thinking to turn down white as I already have a white car and needed a change. So they placed an order for my car and said it would take 10-15 days. I had no problem with that as far as I get the car in december.

In the meantime dad was recovering so fast that the doctor was also happy. A full recovery is expected by Feb'14 end. Dad had also gained confidence to sit in a car and now wants to renew his license which is a good news. The very next day after I booked my silver knight my beige dzire was town away(finally).

Also my friend showed interest in booking the dzire vdi. Put some sense into him and made him book the zdi and got a 10k discount from the dealer for both of us in addition to the above mentioned. Delivery expected on 27/12/2013.

THE GOOD
1. Compact dimensions make it a proper city car
2. 1.3L mjd in its finest tunes
3. Great NVH
4. Superb interiors
5. 5 star euro ncap rating
6. Well weighted steering
7. Effecient
8. It is a maruti suzuki
9. Superb gearbox

THE BAD
1. Looks from some angles
2. Boot space could have been better
3. Some panel gaps are quiet big
4. Slight turbo lag below 1500 rpm
5. Rear leg room
6. Stock MRF Zvts
7. Stock headlights

FINAL ON-ROAD PRICE
Ex-showroom: 7.99 lakhs
handling charge: 6400
R.T.O: 44,000
Insurance 0 dep: 26,000
(-) discounts: 30,000
(-) consumer offer: 10,000
(-) loyalty bonus: 10,000

Total: 8,20,000/-
UPDATE 16 DECEMBER 2013
Quiet a lot of things happened on this day. Got a call from the dealer that the car has arrived earlier than expected. It had arrived in 7 days as opposed to the 15 days they had told me. I asked them the VIN no. to which they said they will give it to me once the car is unloaded. The SA went on to say that the car had arrived on 15th but since then is in the truck because there was no one to unload it. Anyways got the engine no, chassis no, and vin no. the next day and it was legit.

Also the payment of my beige dzire came in from the insurance company. Everything is going smooth like butter and as per plan.

Didn't allow the developments to affect the planned delivery date and kept it on 27th only as it was an auspicious day according to my mother. Auspicious days take two things very high namely:

1. Delivery period
2. Excitementstupid:


UPDATE 23&24 DECEMBER

Did pdi of my and my friends car on 23rd. I got a december car VIN ending MD and my friend got a november car VIN ending LD.

These are the pics of my pdi:
















Got remaining insurance amount from the company on 24th. Loan process went smoothly from SBI due to our previous 3 loans from them.




UPDATE 26th DECEMBER 2013
Did a second PDI today of mine and my friend's car and selected all the accessories and finalized them one last time. Also getting the new headlamps officially from Maruti worth Rs.1300/- at my cost. I don't know why they didn't give powerful headlights from the factory itself:Frustrati.

SBI sanctioned the loan and came home to get the agreement done with Dad, very professional must say.

Here are some pics and a small video of the pdi:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yKiASacbBc

UPDATE 27th DECEMBER

So it's D-day finally. Couldn't sleep till 3 the previous night and am up by 8. Crazy what car mania can do to you.

Anyways the delivery is fixed at 1 PM but as always have decided to reach the dealership by 11 since I have to check the installation of accessories.


As soon as I reached the dealership something so irritating happened that I can't explain my frustration in words. One of our relatives told my mother that 27th is not a good day and the best day to take the car is 30th. My mother called me up from home to tell me that the delivery will be on 30th and asked me to return home.

I lost my temper so bad that I nearly cancelled everything, but my friend who was taking delivery with me told me not to loose my cool as 30th is only 2 days away.

So i left with a very bad temper from the showroom after getting the accessories fitted. The car was completely decorated. I had in fact also put a team bhp sticker on the car.

By the way this was the same great relative who gave the auspicious day for our totalled Dzire. Just can't believe how blindly superstitious people can be. I frankly had now lost all the excitement and happiness.




UPDATE DECEMBER 28

Got a call from the bank that the NOC for my beige dzire was ready and asked me to pick it up. The dealer of my new car was kind enough to pick it up from the bank and asked me to take it from their showroom which was nearer for me.

Reached the showroom and saw the knight waiting to conquer the roads. My lost excitement suddenly returned. So took the NOC and left the showroom with enthusiasm and a bag load of excitement.

So, the wait starts again. Ready or not 30th december here I come.

UPDATE 30 DECEMBER 2013

It's 3 am in the morning and just like before I am unable to sleep due to the excitement. It's D-day again and this time I have decided to switch off my cell phone so that no one can stop me from taking the delivery this time stupid:

Have decided to get the new headlamps also installed on the 31st. The bulbs cost Rs.700/- per piece. Both of us(me and my friend) are getting it installed.


Took delivery finally at 3 PM.



Here is a video of me taking delivery:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDMEBZzfR3E



Took the car to the temple in the evening to do the necessary Puja and Swastik






Avg. Fuel economy



200 KMS

well, it is too early to comment on mileage as the car has done only 220 kms but these are the figures I am getting. Figures are as per MID

CITY: 15.8 Km/l
HIGHWAY: 18 Km/l

450 KMS

The mileage has improved a lot from before. The picture speaks for itself.



These are the figures I get now.

CITY: 18.4 Km/l
HIGHWAY: 21 Km/l

USAGE PATTERN
City: 70%
highway: 30%

ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION
The best part of owning a diesel maruti is the sweet ddis engine. The engine has quiet a lot of torque and starts moving in first without any input from the accelarator. The transmission makes driving the ddis a pleasure, the refinement levels and NVH are much better than any other car of it's class. The ddis is the best example of multijet in it's finest tunes. There is a slight amount of turbo lag below 1500 rpm but after that there is a lot of torque till 2400 rpm. To get best performance I shift up at 2000 rpm and shift down when the rev starts going below 1500 rpm. The meat is in between 1500 and 2400 rpm.

The gearshift is smooth and precise. The gearbox is so good that you would want to shift gears just for the heck of it. The only issue is when sometimes it doesn't slot into reverse, which was an issue even in my Dzire that crashed. The first gear is very short and then all the gears are long, you need to be careful while downshifting from 3rd to 2nd as if the speed is above 25 the car tends to slow down to match the speed. I rev match for avoiding this. The car cruises comfortably on the highway but would have loved a sixth gear for those long journeys.

Air conditioning
The automatic climate control makes the work very easy just set the temperature and forget. The A/c cools well even in ahmedabad heat of 40 degrees easily.

BRAKES
The brakes in the zdi are excellent. There was a situation where I had to suddenly apply brakes and the car stopped within a very short distance and the abs did it's job really well.

HANDLING
The handling has improved by leaps and bounds in the new Dzire compared to the gen 1. The car remains steady and planted at speeds and corners really well. The suspension has been stiffened up so the car doesn't squat when there is load in the back. The wobbly effect which was present in gen 1 at speeds has also gone. The steering is also light and easy to use in traffic conditions and is pretty good even at highway speeds.

You really enjoy flinging the car into corners and then accelerating out of it. If the car reaches its limits it starts to understeer which is safe.

THE INTERIORS
The interiors of the car are very good to look and the dual tone is like icing on the cake. The only problem is that some of the panel gaps are too big for e.g. between front and back door, boot, etc. The quality of plastics have improved over the period of time. MSIL has taken lot of design cues from the kizashi while designing the dash of the Dzire.

The interiors are a pleasent place to be for the driver and the front passenger but the same cannot be said for the poor souls at the back:Frustrati. The rear leg room has improved from before but is still not comfortable for 5 people. Wish they had scooped the back of the front seats for rear knee room.

Here are some shots of the car interior and exterior:









THE AUDIO SYSTEM

The audio system has 4 speakers(2 fr door pad and 2 rear parcel shelf) and 2 tweeter (on LHS and RHS A pillars) and comes equipped with a USB, CD and an AUX port. But the biggest thing missing is bluetooth which is something that is absent in almost all maruti's.

The audio system has improved a lot from the previous gen. The nippon HU looks pretty good and has a good amount of bass which the previous system lacked. In fact the bass is so much that the left ORVM starts to vibrate in a rhythm. One question is whether the AVC works or is it just a gimmick because I can't find any major difference even after keeping it on level 3.

The system has many preset equalisers which can be further customised in accordance with the amount of treble and bass that a person wants. The steering mounted audio controls also make using the system easy eliminating the need to look away from the road to do any changes.



Conclusion

So, finally the journey from destruction to creation comes to an end. The Dzire brand has a lot of meaning for us and holds a lot of emotional value. This is our third Dzire and the brand has been with us in all phases of life, high, lows, happiness and sadness.

Will keep on updating this thread as and when we gobble miles together. Oh and gobble reminds me that I have completed 600 kms as of 10/1/2014.

So, in the end to bring back what we had lost in the crash here comes the Silver Knight out of the dark. It ain't wrong to say there is still a lot to be Dzire'd.

Congrats on your car!

Which car did you drive bro? The turbo in Punto mjd starts spooling ~1700rpm onwards. Its not peppy, but the car definitely drives well.

Btw, did you change the wiring harness along with the bulb upgrade?

Firstly congrats on getting yet another reliable and safe Dzire in your stable and shocked but happy to hear that your dad is on the way to recovery from that horrific accident!

The fact that you did go in for the same car shows the level of confidence in the model and the car maker. Indeed it is a very reliable and a fun to drive car with a boot (unlike its bootless sibling). Wish you many happy miles of ownership and a very safe one at that this time!

Do keep us posted on the car as it gets well entrenched in your stables and puts in more miles!

I drove 2 punto's to clear my doubts. One had covered 12k kms and another jad covered 50k kms. I drove the 90 hp variant.

Getting the first service service done on 16th.

Congrats on your car, nice choice. It looks better in that shade.

You have mentioned some where that the rear speakers are placed on the parcel try? Is it? In the swift its placed on the rear door itself.

Yes, in the Dzire the rear speakers are placed in the rear parcel shelf. The front two are on the door pads and the tweeters on the A pillars.

Hi Adithya,

Congrats on the car and for writing the review and posting it finally.

Wish you many more happy miles on this car.

+100 on the AVC thing.

I have tried using all 3 levels in the car but no difference. Hope the feature works and is activated. Shall be visiting the ASC for this thing soon.

Anurag.

The kizashi also has AVC but it makes a very tiny difference by adjusting the equaliser. The difference can be felt there but it is very small and ineffective when the windows are rollled down.

Rockporiom,

Even though you TD'ed many other cars, but still I have a feeling that you were determined to buy a D'zire again and there is a good reason to it.

Wish you a great start to a new 'old' relationship all over again. Counselling and driving around safely with your dad in the car and explaining all the safety features to him in a friendly way will go a long way in restoring his confidence back.

All the best!

Regards,
Saket

Only the bulbs were changed to philips which double the range. The wiring wasn't touched.

Congratulations on the reliable workhorse! wish you thousands of relatively uneventful miles (after the accident in the old car and the problems with your Kizashi, I am sure you will need this ride to soothe your nerves) :D

Strange about the AVC. I have driven the Swift in which it works pretty decently. The Kizashi has it too and it works very well in that, it is very difficult to make out the changes it makes unless you suddenly brake from high speeds when the system needs some time to tone down the volume :P

Hey guys finally completed 1000 kms and gave the car for service at kiran motors. All my cars go to them for servicing regardless of whether I bought it from them.

Km reading
999 kms

Problems reported

1) creaking from drivers seat

2) noise from drivers window when fully closed

3) squeaking from rear suspension on bad roads

Problems solved

None

Time Taken

Car in: 12:30 pm

Car out: 5 pm

Total time taken: if you take the lunch time into consideration they took 5 hours for servicing the car and this service didn't have anything major. It was just a check up. Further none of the problems reported were solved. I complained to the manager about the same. He was apologetic and told me to get the car another day ( since I had some work ) and he would take care of all the issues. The car was cleaned and polished well.


But by far the biggest improvement has to be this.

18.3 kmpl to 23.1 kmpl?! HOW?!:thumbs up

And you drive so less buddy. Come on! My Swift now reads 3300 kms with an average mileage of 22.3 kmpl.

One tip I'll give you to get a realistic FE on the MID is by resetting it every time you refill. Reset only the 'AVG'.

And regarding the AVC, it works as it should. I was given a nice demo by the SA and made me understand the use.

Anurag.